Alice Munro stood at the forefront of the short story renaissance in the late 20th century.
Munro, who died at age 92 Monday at her home in Point Hope, Ontario, devoted herself to short stories in her nearly 50 year career that began in 1968.
Never publishing a novel, Munro won the Nobel Prize in 2013, honored for bringing new depth and psychological complexity to the short story format.
Along with Raymond Carver, John Cheever and Ann Beattie, she revived the popularity of short stories after years of the genre's declining readership.
While short stories flourish in literary journals and short story collections are still published, the genre again appears to be declining as a major literary form. The New Yorker and Harper's are the only mainstream magazines that still publish short stories.
Lorrie Moore, who wrote an appreciation of Munro's career published on the Atlantic's web site, is one of the few contemporary writers who've found widespread success with short story collections. In recent years, Moore's turned her attention to novels and critical essays.
Munro's popularity as a short story writer seems unlikely to be repeated.
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